Each week during the 10 Pound Challenge, I’ll outline 5 different mini-challenges. Your job is to choose 1-2 of them to fully commit to for the week, and you may choose to continue that practice for the remainder of the challenge. You may wish to do more than 2 of the challenges, and you are welcome to do so, but be sure to fully commit to 1 or 2 so that you don’t get overwhelmed too quickly. You’ll select your challenge in the weekly check in, but I provide a bit more explanation for each of them here.
1. Start each day with a healthy beverage. 
Sleep is very dehydrating, so it’s important to have something hydrating as soon as possible after waking up. Even better, creating a nourishing, cleansing drink is a great way to get a head start on your nutrition for the day, and you’ll feel the benefits from it all day long. You can choose very warm water with lemon juice (fresh), a smoothie, an organic herbal tea, or any other healthy morning tonic you would like!
2. No Processed Meat.
Processed meat is full of fillers, preservatives, nitrates, artificial flavours and colours, and more. It’s a recipe for disaster, or more specifically, health issues. It’s been linked to colon cancer and several other diseases, so it’s wise to limit your consumption as much as possible. If you regularly consume lunch meat, pepperettes, bacon, sausage, meat from fast food/sandwich/sub shops, or others, you may want to choose this challenge! Instead, prep some meat at home twice this week to use in your meals. Add it to salads, soups, sandwiches, or snack on it by itself.
3. Meditate 3 times
Meditation is not just for your hippy aunt. It’s one of the most powerful ways to combat stress and create a healthier, happier, lifestyle. Whether you’ve never meditated before or you’ve tried it a few times, challenge yourself to meditate 3 times this week for at least 10 minutes each time. It could be when you wake up, on your lunch break, after work, before bed, or whenever you’d like to carve out a little time for yourself. Try a guided meditation, which will talk you through the process and help you stay in the zone and out of your head. I recommend the free app Insight Timer, as it’s what I use and love, but there are several guided meditation videos on YouTube to try as well. Once you give it a fair shot, you’ve love how peaceful and grounded you feel after, trust me!
4. Try a different fruit.
Did you take the challenge to try a different vegetable last week? This time, it’s time to head to the exotic fruit aisle and get something you haven’t had before! Some of my favourites include dragon fruit, papaya, pomegranate, mangosteen, or husk cherries (winter cherries). If those aren’t readily available to you, pickup some dried apricots or dates from your bulk food store, or just choose a fruit you don’t typically eat. We want to get you out of your comfort zone and enjoying more fruit, so have fun with this one!
5. Get some activity during your lunch break or down time each day.
Whether you’re a driver or an office worker, it’s important to squeeze in little bits of activity throughout your day. Whether you have time for an hour long walk or just 30 jumping jacks, get moving at least once per day whenever you have the chance. Take a few flights of stairs in your building, do some inconspicuous calf raises (simply standing straight and rising up onto your tippy toes repeatedly) while fuelling up the truck, or do some upper body stretches in the truck while waiting for a load. The goal is to make movement a built-in part of your day!
Pomegranate, always wondered what it taste like. Not to sure about Mangosteen, I’ll have a look. Have been a fruitolic last 2 weeks. Having smaller plates at dinner and excersize .
Lost 7 lbs down to 183. May’s weather here in Nova Scotia has been cold and wet. Manage some indoor riding and watching the Memorial Cup here in Halifax! Go Moose Go!
Our Mooseheads are Playing tonite and are 2 wins against St Albert and Guelph. Thanks Brian Halls
Wow, congratulations on your weight loss, Brian! It’s been cold and wet in southern Ontario as well, we’re just starting to see things improve this week! Hopefully soon we’ll be drowning in loads of fresh Ontario fruit, as I’m also a fruit addict 🙂
Take care, and keep up the great work!
Thanks for putting meditation out there as a mini challenge. This is something I picked up over 15 years ago and try to do everyday although I often fail. It’s value to me as a driver has been invaluable in terms of staying focused for extended periods of time at the wheel and training myself to recognise when my body is speaking to me about fatigue. I often find myself slipping away from the practice of meditation when I push myself beyond what is reasonable in terms of the length of my workday. I’ve come to recognise it as “exercise for developing a calm mind” and is no different in approach than daily exercise for your body.
This week I will focus on meditation as a mini challenge. Thanks.
Thanks for sharing this, Alan! I have very similar feelings about meditation. It’s easy to put it on the back burner, but you can certainly feel the difference when you do. Hope you enjoy getting back into it this week!
I’m not much on calorie counting but I have cut down on Bread and have flax seed nachos with white tuna and light mayo instead of a sandwich .Bananas and grapes apples instead of junk. Having Hamburger steaks and asparagus for dinner tonite. Extra lean hamburger no bun! chunks of cucumber and tomatoes. So I don’t think I need to worry about calories. That is very informative thanks!